Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Here's a great quote from the of coverage of this year's Olympic torch relay:

"The Olympic Torch, symbol of peace, is currently at an undisclosed location."

The biggest news coming out of Beijing this summer will be the protests, the Tibetian situation, the smog, and China's growing economy. These are all important issues for consideration for sure, but what about the Games? What about the atheletes?

Do kids dream about the Olympics anymore?

Most of you know what I'll say next, but since... well... you know... since... I don't even have to say it... the Games have gone downhill.

The rest of the 80s were shadowed by the Lake Placid games, with a few interesting moments but none of that magic that they had when I was a kid.

I'm not sure when it all began to go south, probably with the 1984 summer games in LA, which were the first to make a profit in over 50 years. I recall that ugly star plastered on everything, most notably the blue/green foam container that held my McDonalds Filet-o-Fish. What a sell out.

The Olympics used to be a destination for an an athlete. A dream come true.

Now it's an inconvenience.

Athletes bitch about travel plans not being made for them by their country's Olympic Committee, security, overzealous fans.

Now I think kids today have adopted this attitude. The atheletes don't care about the games, why should they?

Maybe I'm being nostalgic about the good old days, but too bad, it's my blog.

On a related note, I'd sacrifice 1 year off the end of my life and pay to $20,000 if I could go back in time to 2.22.80 and secure a ticket to this game. Maybe two years.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

If the worst thing that happens to your body on a regular basis is that once a month or so your brain is in hyperdrive and keeping you awake I suppose you should be greatful. So this morning, I'm grateful for my general state of good health.

Nevertheless... I'm up and have been browsing my favorite sites for hours. This will be a middle-of-the-night-can't-browse-any-more-but-still-can't sleep type of post. I'll break it out by category:

Cycling:The new Campy stuff is horrible. Looks like it fell in that same vat of acid that Jack Nicholson did in the first Batman. All warped and stuff. My decision to go with SRAM is looking better and better, and since SRAM's HQ is at least in the US, I feel a bit better about the fact that the stuff is made in Taiwan.

The Ronde van Blackstone Valley was last weekend, and we had a good ride. It was cool out and very windy but we managed 47 miles at right around 17 mph. A few little games were played, but it was generally a social ride. Thanks to everyone who drove out to participate. Next time we'll have the food ready immediately after the ride ends.

The Tour of Flanders starts in 2 hours. For me this race, along with Paris Roubaix and Milan-San Remo are the big three of the spring classics. Others think Leige rather than MSR, but La Primavera is so incredibly long and difficult at the end that it makes the podium. Flanders and Roubaix are special because people really shouldn't be allowed to ride those roads on a bicycle, much less race on them. The carnage is nothing short of spectacular.

General Athletics:My Boston Marathon number pick up ticket came last week and I'm not running it. My knee hurts just riding now and there is a highly recommended doctor in Boston who'll be taking a look at it in May. I'm hoping to be able to defer my entry until 2009, but I'm not expecting much. If I didn't think I'd be banned for life I'd give it away, but I'm pretty sure that is what would happen if I got caught.

The loose collection of middle-aged dads that is Sutton Youth Baseball roped me in to be T-Ball coordinator. I was the only T-Ball coach who showed any interest in the program by appearing at the coaches meeting and I was immediately swept into office. Now that I'm there you can bet your ass that there is going to be some significant changes to the program. First on the docket: Tees will be used for all at bats. This is tee-ball afterall. As in hit the ball off a tee people. You know who you are... pitching to the 4 year olds who can barely hold a bat much less swing it. The idea is to keep things moving, not put everyone else to sleep. Rant over.

Home:The family is doing well, and the lawn is starting to show those first signs of greening up in response to the warmer weather. Any minute now we will be over run with ants. Any suggestions as to an environmentally friendly counter measure is appreciated.

Our addition gets used a lot... to watch on demand yoga videos. That room has got to be the most expensive private yoga studio relative to overall net worth in Massaschusetts. The upside is that Ali is much more flexible these days and I'm developing a relationship with the energy of every inanimate object in my universe. Namaste.

Work:I think work is what is keeping me up tonight.

State of our society:We're pretty troubled by the state of our society in this house. Not the kids so much, but Ali and I. Consumer confidence is low and so is ours. This country has sold out on so many of the values that made us great to begin with and I worry that it can't be brought back. Saying that this is the greatest place on earth is easy, making it the greatest is another story.

We've taken a step back from hard work though and have replaced it with a taste for the finer things even when we aren't able to afford it... collectively and individually. SUVs, big houses, travel, and lavish spending on goods and services we don't need and can't afford define us, not hard work, innovation and productivity as was once the case. We replace the word "want" with the word "need" so frequently that we never stop to consider the position that we have put ourselves in. We've sold our identity to the highest (lowest) bidder for superficial luxury. We may not be the biggest movers and shakers around, but we aren't contributing to the problem on the other end either by living the high life when we can't swing it.

I'm preparring for the comming end of civilization by stocking up on baked means and vitamin water.